Central US Energy Strategy Council Needed, Report Says

A group comprised of of former senators and executive branch leaders recommends the president establish a centralized council responsible for energy strategy, Fierce Government IT reports.

The Strategic Energy Policy Initiative, a group within the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the energy secretary could lead a national council comprised of the secretaries of agriculture, commerce, defense, interior, transportation, treasury and state.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency would also sit on that council, the report said.

The Hill newspaper reports former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), former EPA Administrator William Reilly and retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, a former White House national security adviser, serve as chairmen of the group.

Booz Allen Hamilton Executive Vice President Mark Gerencser, Jones and Dorgan wrote an op-ed for Politico in February on the need for a new approach to infrastructure development in the U.S. (click here for coverage from our sister site ExecutiveBiz).

Zach Rausnitz writes for Fierce that the group envisions the council completing a national strategy within six-to-seven months of a new presidential administration.

Additionally, the council would release a report to the public to track progress towards the strategy’s goals.